Here’s the formula: Wholesome Christian boy meets professor. Professor mocks boy. Boy stands up for Christianity. Boy humiliates professor. Atheist looks stupid. The end. It’s great for a thirty second anecdote, but if you use your

you can drag that sucker to 113 minutes running time!

[Much more below…]

The interview itself reveals all the amazing insights that devout Christian and hyper patriot (he wanted you to know that) Kevin Sorbo gained about atheists, from pretending to be a completely misleading atheist on film. I’m sure you’re all fascinated.

As for the movie itself… let me take a second to plug one of my recent favorite podcasts, “We Hate Movies” brought to my attention last year by Mike Gillis of Ask An Atheist. I’m only bringing them up by way of giving them credit for their schtick, which I am about to steal, of lovingly describing key scenes of really bad movies. So here you go, here’s that trailer. It’s only 3 minutes long, but believe me, there is plenty to work with here.

0:00-0:10

Guy in a suit with incredibly sinisterlighting ridicules a totally helpless Christian woman for no reason! Hello, welcome to my office in the popular Persecution Complex.

0:11-0:19

A hack reporter does an interview with the Duck Dynasty stars. For freedom! I was originally going to write that the movie has hired some hilariously low budget stand-ins for Duck Dynasty, but I looked it up, and no. Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson is credited as “Willie Robertson.” I forgot that that’s just how they actually look. The hack reporter is recording the exchange on her iPhone (ouch, those traditional media budget cuts really hurt!), missing a golden opportunity to capture their patriotic outfits on HD film.

0:20-0:26

Enter Kevin Sorbo, the evil atheist professor who is obviously sad that he has not been able to grow a mustache to twirl. Like all good Hollywood Atheists, Kevin has taken a prior life tragedy as a personal insult from the cosmos, and sworn vengeance on God himself. Because we all know you can’t be an atheist without Massive Inner Turmoil!!!

0:27-0:33

Possibly my favorite moment of the entire trailer, here we have the good professor tossing off a quick Shakespeare quote (Macbeth Act 5, Scene 5), which you would think should be delivered with the detached, slightly smug air of a guy who is showing off his mad literary skillz. But instead, Kevin chooses to read his line with gripping intensity, as if he was expressing his deepest, innermost hatred of life, with a totally originally phrasing that has just occurred to him on the spot.

Introducing: Hapless, idealistic, bright eyed, bushy tailed heroic Christian student Shane Harper, ready to go out in the world and be Persecuted For Jesus™. As the sympathetic older student points out to him, being criticized by an authority figure is exactly like being mauled and eaten by large carnivores.

0:47-0:56

Just like all philosophy professors do, the first thing Kevin Sorbo announces is that in his class, basic principles should not be backed up by either evidence or persuasive discussion. Just shut the fuck up and agree with my preconceptions, students, because that’s how philosophy works at the university level.

0:57-1:08

This is obviously going to be a rigorous and demanding class. The first test is to see if you can write three words on a piece of paper. Because again, learning stuff isn’t the point here: obedience is.

Technically, of course, if Kevin Sorbo thinks God Is Dead then he’s a deist, not an atheist, but whatever.

1:09-1:17

On the flip side of this entirely pointless obedience test, we have the paranoid Shane Harper, who fears that if he writes those words down then shadow monsters will immediately spring up from the ground to claim his soul and drag him to hell, like Willy Lopez in Ghost. Since he cannot pass the “write three words” test, for some reason Kevin Sorbo thinks the appropriate make-up assignment is to debate him publicly in front of the whole class, before he’s taught any actual philosophy. Essay assignments are kind of archaic and boring anyway, know what I mean?

1:18-1:36

Asian guy with accent is genuinely astounded upon hearing for the first time that some people think that Jesus is God. Ignorant foreigners, am I right?? The stakes are really high now, Shane Harper, because if you don’t win this debate then the Asian guy will have absolutely no other opportunities in his life to hear the message of Christianity, no matter how long he may continue living in the United States.

1:24-1:43

But seriously, I want to see the syllabus for this curriculum, because I don’t think they’re learning any philosophy at all. I’m fairly certain that not just all the pop quizzes, but also the midterm and the final, will consist entirely of the instruction “Write the words ‘God Is Dead’ on your paper and hand it in.” Quite possibly over and over again, like Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

1:44-1:51

Hey there Hercules, you know you don’t have to physically push this kid around in order to make him scared of you, right? Threatening him with a failing grade, at least, doesn’t get people fired and charged with assault. But, ya know, this is college, and professors are regularly treated like gods, so I’m sure the system would cover up if we just dump this kid’s body somewhere.

Wait, is this Joint Grandstanding 101? I’m sorry, I’m here by mistake, I was looking for Philosophy.

Ya know, for a guy who opened up on the first day with “Never question me!” professor Sorbo sure has handed over his entire semester to a public dick measuring competition with some freshman.

Be sure to watch at 2:06 as Asian Guy listens in rapt attention, his one chance to learn about Jesus surely slipping away.

2:14-2:45

The hour’s approaching to give it your best,
You’ve got to reach your prime.
That’s when you need to put yourself to the test,
And show us a passage of time.
Were going to need a montage! (Montage!)Ooh, it takes a montage! (Montage!)

2:30: Zinger delivered! Since atheists aren’t allowed to react to the punchline, I think protocol now demands that we throw up the traditional Jack Chick panels:

Roll dem credits!

* To be fair to Kevin Sorbo, he’s stated in an interview that the ridiculous “disappointed” line was actually an homage to the (clearly much more) talented comic actor Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda. Here’s that scene, and it seems like a legit excuse. Still, that bit was too funny not to include.

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Comments

It is indeed funny to watch this and observe the hunormous amount of faulty presumptions made the writer(s) who are obviously christian and ignorant. Indeed in order for a god to be dead you did assume he was alive once and that’s something an atheist doesn’t do. And as usual the women are depicted as faulty beings that need to not speak against a man but should obey, because you see what happens if they don’t, they obstruct the defence of christianity.
And if you are a christian family it is perfectly normal to banish anyone of your family that does not agree with you.

I realise that seeing that trailer actually made me learn more then I wanted to know.

I’m glad I read this, Russell. I thought she was supposed to be an angry atheist pointing a gun at the calm patriots, lol.

I actually did have an overtly atheist literature prof. in college, but he used that to force critical thinking. The Christian students just thought he was mean or that “something must have happened in his life”. But they didn’t seem to notice that he challenged everyone on just about everything. He even poo pooed Star Trek on occasion because he saw some of us (me) wearing a Trek t-shirt. He said the best science fiction was Polish, lol.

Releasing this the same weekend as Divergent, which is obliterating everything, was not the best marketing plan for wide release success. This movie will basically end up playing exclusively to conservative Christian audiences.

I minored in Philosophy and had quite a few professors. I couldn’t tell you if any one of them were theists or atheists. Sure the topic came up but none of them were so personally invested in the question. The “God is Dead” writing assignment is especially facepalm-worthy. It’s pretty obvious to me that the folks involved with this movie never actually took a philosophy class, they just projected their liberal boogeyman up there

LOL. Although a significant amount of movies in general aren’t any more factual than “storytelling.”

Otherwise, we all would be stuck watching rather dull documentaries. LOL 😉 my favourite though 😉

Regardless, this year’s demographically targeted pandering to the “religious” audience, is substantial than that of other years. It would seem apparent, that this year, is most likely an attempt to make a last ditch effort to sucker in the already “faithful” to move to act towards the other unsuspecting “fence-sitters,” or otherwise atheists, in a Desperate and feeble attempt at sustaining their failing religion.

One thing is for certain, the “idea” of god or gods are certainly Not dead.

However that may be, most certainly a fact is, that religion IS dying, and it is definitely not going out without a desperate and pathetic attempt to sustain it by its adherents.

Hopefully though, it will die out peacefully, as this is my only real main concern, as people(aka animals) are finally “hypothetically” backed into a corner for which they cannot escape from reality.

The typical “metaphorical” response for the behavioural characteristic of our species, is to first squawk… ooo ooo ahh ahh loudly. Then if that doesn’t work to then further throw feces, (our current stage of what “religious reasoning” us atheists have to contend with)(considering the shite spewed from the spiritual folks as of late (hence, the big pile of shite movies coming out lately)

And finally, then attack physically, by going ape shite on the people who don’t agree with them. (see crusades, “witch burnings” etc…

One can hope for a peaceful withering out of those pathetically inane and harmful ideologies of religion and superstitious behaviour, and a peaceful culling of those who would even use belief in the first place without any critical thinking behind that belief.

I don’t know if this film bothers me more as an atheist or as the holder of a Master’s degree in philosophy. This film is a big insult to any honest philosopher, atheist OR theist. I studied philosophy at a catholic university (in Europe). I am convinced that my philosophy professors (all of whom were catholic, and a third of whom were actual priests) would facepalm this film without exception. I remember when in metaphysics class the transcendental argument for god was mentioned, and the professor actually apologised about it. He said something like “I’m sorry that I have to talk about this, but I do because, well, it’s out there – but we can all see why it’s a bit silly!” Everybody there knew that I was an atheist, but even at oral exams I only ever met with the professors’ “Oh, how very interesting – you’re the atheist!” and then we’d proceed with the exam and I would get the grade I deserved.
My catholic philosophy professors would very likely feel that the makers of the film do not only make philosophy look stupid to people who don’t know anything about it, but especially to anybody who does know anything, they make religion look dishonest. (And yes, I myself believe religion is inherently dishonest, but that’s the point were my professors and probably would disagree after all

#3? I would have thought that such a silly movie would have been destined for box office failure. Then again my entrepreneurial instincts would have me open a christian bookstore and gift shop. Who’s in it?

Fair enough, but where are they advertising? I wouldn’t have heard of this movie if it hadn’t been for the atheist blogs. I suspect I don’t watch anything where they’d be advertising (and I do watch enough tv to see a national ad campaign).

I am glad I am not the only one to be irked by the YouTube campaign for this movie. I was intrigued for about 60 seconds before I had to skip it in disgust.

“Strawman” hardly covers it. It is more like a straw battle re-enactment where one guy wins against an entire straw army for the glory of Jeeeesus.

I am vaguely curious what the amazing debate point that wins the day is going to be, but I don’t have nearly enough patience to sit through the whole thing. Is there another brave soul who has? Spoilers, please!

Maybe real philosophers mean “the idea of God is dead.” But the song they play over the montage — “God’s not dead, He’s living…” — makes it abundantly clear that the movie title must be taken in the most literal sense, and I’m sure Kevin Sorbo’s character isn’t smart enough to draw that careful distinction.

As the sympathetic older student points out to him, being criticized by an authority figure is exactly like being mauled and eaten by large carnivores.

VS.

On the flip side of this entirely pointless obedience test, we have the paranoid Shane Harper, who fears that if he writes those words down then shadow monsters will immediately spring up from the ground to claim his soul and drag him to hell, like Willy Lopez in Ghost.

It seems silly to me that you would mock over the top hyperbole and then resort to over the top hyperbole to mock.

*shrug* We’ve gone meta here, in this blog post. The movie is expecting its audience to take it seriously, I think. Hyperbole has more place in a movie review than it does in a supposedly serious movie.

A hefty three minutes, you say? That’s three minutes more than any apologist I’ve come across. So, what, does this movie actually have completely new arguments or actual factual evidence that has never before been debunked?

Or are we basically talking the same tired lines that apologists have been spouting for years? The fact that they made a movie based on an urban legend suggests they lean more in the “tired lines” direction.

Heh, you’re way too hopeful. The Christian masses will think they’re the most brilliant arguments ever constructed, and run around pronouncing them to every atheist or insufficiently-Christian person they meet, as if we haven’t already heard them enough times to disassemble them in our sleep.

I work for a news service and I can tell you that a journalist recording an interview on an iphone is perfectly normal. Most of the do, at least the print journalists. The microphones are pretty good at picking up the voices, there are a few good voice recorder aps out there and it’s easier than having to take a seperate voice recorder everywhere you go. Hell, I even know a radio journalist who just plugs his microphone into his phone.

Indeed. I thought the whole “Nazis were atheists” thing would die out after Pope Ratzinger put it front and center in an address in England, but that canard refuses to die even after it was widely, and very publicly, refuted.

The whole movie smacks of the typical “atheists are not really atheists, they are just mad” trope. There is even a death bed conversion at the end, or so I hear. Gird your loins for all that typical crap to resurface, now with greater confidence.

I didn’t really think it through either, but yeah, I don’t see why not. My phone has a processor almost as powerful as the one in my laptop. Modern phones are really just a portable computer that you can also make phone calls on. For that matter, the percentage of my usage time that is actually spent making phone calls is probably only about 20% … and it’s only that high because I’m on the phone constantly, to the command center of the project I’m on, at work. If it wasn’t for work, it would probably be more like 2% or 3%.

Get a USB Adapter, and you can probably connect a professional-quality microphone, huh? The only thing holding them back a little is the fact that the built-in microphones in phones are usually crap, if you want real audio quality and not just comprehensibility.

Friend of TAE and atheist philosopher Dan Finke has seen the film and reviewed it. I can’t really comment on the accuracy, never having seen the film and never intending to, but he provides a fantastic and profound analysis IMO.

Just another example of religious propaganda. One would think that after all this time someone could at least be able to prove something about their god, and yet the best these theists can do is present their ignorance in the form of a movie starring a bunch of washed up thespians. Lack of evidence is still the same as lack of knowledge. It’s still just pathetic ignorance.

Entire churches bought out tickets with Fandango and such, so it opened as a ‘success’, even though nobody outside of churches had really even heard of this thing. I only heard about this movie because of atheist blogs, after all.

And worse, they’ll use it as justification for their anti-intellectualism. ‘See? Look at those horrible liberal universities, where they HATE Jesus! This is why we shouldn’t let our precious children go to those awful institutions for indoctrination! We should send them to church, instead!’

There’s also an entire distribution network of which those outside of evangelical Christianity are probably unaware. They made the first three Left Behind movies, before the Nicholas Cage reboot, despite the fact that the first one tanked at the box office, because they were able to market them through mega-churches and similar places which probably have even better AV equipment than most theaters.

There are entire production houses that do all of their marketing through evangelical churches and don’t even give a nod to the mainstream market. Most of the movies are pretty low budget, of course, but you occasionally get one like this which is theater-worthy, at least from a casting perspective.

I dunno, man. I think that anyone who would buy the bullshit in this movie is already so far gone that this movie won’t make any difference. What’s one more piece of hyperbolic propaganda for them to point at, when the Christian media already manufactures so much crap.

Oh yeah, I remember the Left Behind movies–they were coming out during my high school ‘No, really, I’m trying to do it your way, Christians, but can you please explain X, Y and Z?’ phase, and was referenced to the movies as if they would answer any of the questions I had about why Christianity makes no sense.

Great read. I have so many great feelings about all of you fellows on the show. From Matt’s public speaking, Jeff’s in your face (plus his off show stuff like artwork i’ve seen is amazing), and when your on the show Russell you always seem like you have a lot to say that you don’t get to, and you can see it in the writing. Your write ups are awesome when I don’t get a chance to watch live. Someday ill call in when I muster the courage to ask my question about a few techniques to break open the false dichotomies I keep getting hit with from the religious folks.

Well, the Nazis kept making propaganda films, even when everyone in Germany pretty much believed everything they said already… People love hearing things which support the views they already hold and confirm their fears, which is why my grandma keeps forwarding me the e-mail that this entire movie is based on.

I’m glad I read THIS… since I thought it was a gun at first, until I read Russel’s deconstruction. “Gee they seem awfully calm for people with a VIOLENT MILITANT ATHEIST* pointing a gun at them”
So I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that thought they saw that.
r

Lem’s book is amazing, absolutely. One of my all-time favorites, and a rare entry in that category from sci-fi. (Zamyatin’s “We” is probably the only other)
But, I have to defend at Least Tarkovsky’s version of the film. Which I really enjoyed, certainly long, (you’re best served kinda preparing for that with Tarkovsky’s movies- “Stalker” took me three tries :S still awesome tho) but very well done. The feels…
Even the remake, which I was expecting to hate, with the book in my top 5 or 10, and a milestone of (Soviet, if not generally) cinema as the original… I thought was on the upper-side of decent, and one of Clooney’s better performances.
I’m thinking that your statement is mostly coming from both films’ decision to ignore the main thrust of the book’s narrative and focus on the… “human element”? A part of me reacted like Sorbo’s hercules when it became clear in both versions that the whole mind-blowing, paradigm-shifting “as-I-gaze-into-the-abyss-it-gazes-into-me” aspect that (among MANY facets) makes the book so OMFG worthy was going to go largely unexplored. But some stuff is really hard to capture on film. Things that are very cerebral are the MOST problematic, I think. No image would really do justice to the “ocean” on solaris, would it? Admittedly I was shocked when the version produced by James “all my films have a gigantic, groundbreaking visual component” Cameron DIDN’T even have a single shot of what you might call the story’s main character…
But also, I was glad.
r

oooooooooo snap!
Oh no you dih-int!
Uch tho, that movie.. the Feels overload is some of those scenes… *shudders*
Having a great day? Want it shat upon in 38 seconds flat?
Skip to 1:04:50 in that YT embed. Done.
Have more time, and seeking a more thorough and total day-fecation?
Skip to 0:00:00

How was the comment hyperbolic? Why is “Shane” unable to write the words? Wouldn’t desert santa daddy know he didn’t mean it? Even if the jewish god of death and neighborly tolerance DIDN’T know he was just writing 3 words to not tick off his teacher on day one (or fail his class) couldn’t he repent honestly and be instantaneously forgiven? Seems to me he thought his “soul” was in immediate peril, no? Imperiled by the threat of eternal enslaved torture.
Am I missing something?
r

Any money on “sorbo has tearful reconciliation with his imaginary homo-sky-boyfriend after the kid says… actually, more likely REPEATS some BS about how filicidal human sacrifice is a loving gesture. (or that suicide to self-scapegoat all of eternity is anything but ego-maniacally insane….) I’m calling it. Teacher convenes class on the day of the big showdown… and tosses in the towel. In classic Jack Chick fashion, the teacher has to sulk away dejected, having taken down the picture of “our father” right? This one is likely softer since they ARE all about LOVE after all, probably an emotional “THANK YOU ARYAN CHILD OF JESUS” moment and Shane gets a 1up mushroom from the heavens. Credits roll, fade to black.” ?
That’s my guess
Sadly, this isn’t up anywhere in full that I could find in about 10 seconds, all the effort I’m willing to expend on that question. We both (and ALL) know that there isn’t going to be a profound slam dunk epistemological “BOO-YAH” moment… “Well that settles it, I’m convinced, was SO SURE Ray Comfort had me with the banana until I learned that humans engineered the modern banana… that close-up, HI-RES photo of the teapot orbiting jupiter.. WHO CAN ARGUE? Off to stone the queers!”
r

MY favorite part of this is the GLARING and nearly ubiquitous misconception among the flock(s) that not believing something=believing the opposite… sigh. It’s astonishing how FEW people (critical thinkers aside) grasp this… one of the most common “oh, this again?” moments I have with some family members/friends etc… ‘Atheism is a religion’, ‘you have faith in science’, ‘you worship the devil then’, hah. No.
Also was really awesome to behold the “you just hate god” canard delivered with such gravitas. It’s so cute when mental midgets think they really nailed a point….
“awww loook, He thinks he’s thinking, ADORABLE.”
The only thing missing… is, right at the end, before the credits, but after the 1up mushroom for “shane” is sorbo glancing around semi-confused and bellowing “NOT DISAPPOINTED!!!!!” *
r
*-“pleased” or “relieved” didn’t pack the punch, or tie back enough to the original… and “off to stone the queers” is so offensive I’d never utter it publicly, even in a blog-post response. Thanks also to Russel for reminding me how much I loved “A Fish Called Wanda” didn’t know Kline got an Oscar for that role, how rad.

0_o
Woah.
just read the review linked in post #20… and wow.
I was (mostly) WAY off in how I pictured the ending…
how do these “people” not see how malignant and despicable they appear?
Beggars belief and buggers compassion.
Stuff like THIS is why I don’t pull punches anymore about the zombie-jew, or his dad, or the dad’s ghost, who is also him, who is also….
These ideas are toxic, and lacking anything worth saving. Are we not yet past “idiot light fear”?
r
see from :29 to :49 in this to get what I’m thinking… another couple of seconds for the typical response from the “faithful”
youtube.com/watch?v=sy3EHf82ZJU

I sometimes wonder if religions like Christianity would even be taken seriously if there were no heaven or hell. Kind of like an empty promise or an idle threat. It certainly wouldn’t give anyone to look forward to, or be afraid of something. The only thing they would be left with is reality itself. Imagine a religion without fear, guilt, or promises. Not much of a religion is it.

I think that the only reason people are talking about this obvious by-christians-for-christians low-budget production is because it has known stars in it. It’s no different than your average family christian drama. In fact it’s a good thing to get theists thinking.

The more christian movies that come out with thought-provoking stuff in them the better. Again, this is obviously a rather lower budget production with cheap music and simple style, it looks like a direct-to-dvd, nothing for me, an atheist, to get even nearly worked up by.

You know the meme clip “Hey Scotty! Jezzsmann” guy is in this movie, or at least it looks like him

If it wasn’t for the cast, this would be a direct-to-churches/direct-to-DVD title, yeah.

This makes me wonder about the Nicholas Cage relaunch of the Left Behind series. If it’s just a big-budget redo of the original, without a complete rewrite, it’s going to be just as unwatchable as the Kirk Cameron version. The problem is the writing, not the production value and the acting. I don’t foresee major plot rewrites, since Christians tend to be pretty inflexible about this stuff, so I’m expecting complete dreck.

A thousand Shakespeares, at a thousand typewriters, couldn’t rewrite that utter stinkball into anything other than a slightly-less-stinky ball of stink. Unless you gave the source material a Hunter S. Thompson style sendoff, you’re tied at page one to vapid mexican soap opera style garbage. Doomed to dreck.

BREAKING NEWS: The longtime No. 1 pretrib rapture authority, Dr. John Walvoord of Dallas Seminary, has written that the “Left Behind” books and movies have a NON-BIBLICAL foundation! Walvoord says in his book “The Rapture Question,” p. 169, that the ones “taken” first in Matt. 24 are the wicked who are judged and killed, and the ones “left” behind are the righteous – which is just the OPPOSITE of what “Left Behind” books and films portray! For proof of this, Google “The ‘Left Behind’ Rupture” which was aired on Joe Ortiz’s “The End Times Passover” blog on August 12, 2014. (For more shocks Google “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty,” “Pretrib Rapture Pride,” “Pretrib Rapture Secrecy,” “Letter from Mrs. Billy Graham,” and “Pretrib Rapture Stealth.”

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